Grenfell campaigners have raised fears that more residents could be living in buildings with fire doors that have failed safety tests, amid fresh criticism of the government over its âlack of urgencyâ in tackling issues relating to the blaze.
Safety concerns mounted after it was revealed that tests showed a flat front door from Grenfell Tower could only hold back a fire for 15 minutes - half the time it had been designed to resist a blaze.
Relatives of those who died in the June blaze are stunned the findings have only been released now - nine months after the disaster.
Speaking of Thursdayâs announcement, Clarrie Mendy, who lost relatives in the fire, told HuffPost UK: âNine months to test a fire door?â, adding: âItâs an insult.â
âEvery day gets more depressing.â
Mendy said: âA lot of people will feel aggravated over this news and after nine months the mood is changing, people are just tired, itâs just all these excuses one after another.â
A total of 71 people died last June when flames engulfed the high-rise tower, exposing a litany of safety issues, including the use of flammable cladding and the suitability of advice to remain indoors.
The Met said in a statement on Thursday: âThe door tested was designed to resist fire for 30 minutes, but during the test it was only found to resist the fire for approximately 15 minutes, a much shorter period than expected.â
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said the risks to public safety âremain lowâ.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said: âPublic safety is paramount. Government has consulted a range of independent experts and they have advised that the risks to public safety remain low.
âI have made it clear that the necessary tests and assessments must be carried out thoroughly, but at pace.â
But campaigners are not satisfied with the speed of the governmentâs response to the fire.
Moyra Samuels, from Justice for Grenfell, told HuffPost UK: âThe concern for the community is the fact that the governmentâs statement indicates that there are no real concerns, or they (the government) are not sure of the concerns or the implications for every other resident or tenant in social housing or otherwise.
âAnd I think that might well be quite worrying, in a sense of are we supposed to wait and see?â
âThey are saying âwell we donât know, weâre not sure, we need to do more testsâ, so itâs quite vague and it doesnât give anyone enormous confidence,â Samuels added.
Javid told parliament his department did not believe the problem was systemic.
He said he has ordered more tests, adding: âConclusions should not be drawn about the nature of the cause of the Grenfell tragedy â that is a matter for a separate police investigation and it must be allowed to run its course.â
But Shadow Communities Secretary Tony Lloyd said that he was âastoundedâ by Javidâs statement.
He said: âThe secretary of state told us that the Metropolitan Police considered that this test result might have wider implications for public safety and consequently alerted his department.
âThe secretary of state then went on to say that there is no evidence that this is a systemic issue, I was astounded by this.â
He added: âIf this isnât systemic, what assessment has been made of how many buildings are potential affected by this, how many individual flats, how many people who have fire doors that simply donât do the job?â
Lloyd criticised the government over âa lack of urgencyâ in resolving issues related to Grenfell.
He said: âNine months on, only seven of more than 300 tower blocks that have been identified as having dangerous cladding have had that cladding removed and replaced with something more acceptable. Iâve got to say to the Secretary of State, nine months on, this is simply not good enough.â
Javid denied the claim, saying that âevery step of the wayâ the government had âworked as urgently as possibleâ to inform the public and carry out remedial work.
On the issue of fire doors, Javid said he was taking advice from experts and âso far, there is no evidence of a systemic problemâ.
It is believed that Manse Masterdor was the manufacturer of Grenfell Towerâs fire doors. The companyâs trade and operating assets have since been taken over by Synseal â which continues to trade under the name Mastedor.
Synseal said on Thursday that the products in question were no longer being sold.
When asked about those doors that are still in peopleâs homes, a Synseal spokesman told HuffPost UK: âThose doors werenât fitted by us and therefore they are not our responsibility.â
A spokesman for Synseal said: âThe doors were fitted in 2011 and 2012. There was a two year gap between Manse Masterdor installing the doors and Synseal taking over.
âIn terms of products, when Synseal came to the company it was because it wasnât performing very well, they changed lots of products, lots of specifications of doors.
âIn terms of the doors used in Grenfell Tower, those would not be the same doors that are manufactured today.â
Iain McIlwee, chief executive of the British Woodworking Federation, said he was âconcerned but not surprisedâ by todayâs fire safety news.
He warned that in the years he has been analysing fire door safety standards, he has discovered there is a âlegacy of neglect out thereâ.
âI donât think people should panic, the first thing they should do is check the fire door... there are things people can do to give them some reassurance, but naturally I am concerned,â McIlwee told HuffPost UK.
A Kensington and Chelsea Council spokesman said: âWe understand that tests have found that three fire doors from the same company provided less protection than guidelines recommend, but test results are as yet inconclusive.
âAlongside hundreds of councils and landlords across the country, we are seeking further information from the government on what this means for our residents.
âAs soon as we have clear advice from the government about the safety implications of these tests, we will write to our residents about what this means for them.
âWe understand this news will be of particular concern to residents in this borough, which is why we are urging the government to move as quickly as it can to give us clarity about the situation.â